Roberto Orci not confirmed as Star Trek director yet

It's still likely to happen, but Roberto Orci has given an update on the next Star Trek film - and he's not directing it yet...

Paramount's current plan with the Star Trek movie franchise is to have a 13th movie in cinemas in 2016, to mark the 50th anniversary of the series. It'll be the third film with the new crew, that was introduced with JJ Abrams' 2009 reboot.

Abrams is, of course, off making Star Wars: Episode VII at the moment, and so isn't available to direct this time around. And all signs are pointing to Roberto Orci making his directorial debut with the film. Orci, who's been part of the writing team on the recent Trek films, is working on the screenplay for the next film with John D Payne and Patrick McKay at the moment.

Chatting to Collider, he says of Payne and McKay that "they are true Star Trek fans", before adding of reports he's directing the film that "I can't even think anything about the future until I give them a script and they greenlight it. Until that happens, everything else is a rumour".

The 'them' in that sentence is Paramount Pictures, and it seems that whilst it's very likely that Orci will be the next director of a Star Trek film, it's not a done deal yet. "If I'm lucky enough that Paramount loves the script and that we go forward, it'll be because I have loved Star Trek for so long and the idea of having seen one of the best guys in the business direct two of them already".

Paramount will need to make its mind up by the end of the year at the latest, we'd wager. More news as we get it...